Captain's Corner: Targets depend on time of day

What's hot: This is the month of diverse opportunities. You can target snook and tarpon in the morning, and Spanish mackerel, bluefish, snapper, shark and cobia in the afternoon. As long as the tarpon haven't moved offshore to spawn after last week's full moon, then I expect the bite to stay on fire. Cut threadfins or scaled sardines will work best in the passes in the morning. Doing a drift on the outgoing tide is your best bet in the afternoon. If you're stalking silver kings on the beach, set up in front of the rolling fish and let them come to you. The same bait will work.

Tips: The snook have made their way toward coastal passes and adjacent beaches for the annual spawn. Big ones can be caught off the beaches. They will eat almost anything you throw at them: scaled sardines, threadfins, shrimp and most artificial plastics. These fish are holding close to the shoreline, so make sure you fish parallel to the beach.

Elsewhere: If you're looking for constant action, move out to the middle of the bay. Start around the shipping channel and markers. Spanish mackerel and sharks can be caught on almost every cast once you get them chummed up. Use heavier leader with a long shank hook. Cobia are on most of the markers leading into the bay.

Mike Gore charters out of Tampa Bay. Call him at (813) 390-6600 or visit tampacharters.com.